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Wine, crepes and more at new downtown eatery
In Business 2
The Tsymbal family revamped this East Main Street home, built in 1919, to house their new restaurant, Loza Wine & Crepes. - photo by ANGELINA MARTIN/The Journal

 

 

Name of business: Loza Wine & Crepes

 

Type of business: Crepe restaurant

 

Location: 601 E. Main Street

 

Hours: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday – Friday

 

Contact information: 209-652-5839

 

Specialty: Honey-inspired recipes and products

 

History of business:

 

The lot next to a post office may not seem like an ideal location for most restauranteurs, but the location has worked quite nicely for Yelena Tsymbal, owner of Loza Wine & Crepes – Turlock’s newest destination for honey wine, savory crepes and unique Ukrainian cuisine.

 

“The building used to be a house, and was built in 1919 so it’s almost 100 years old,” said Tsymbal, who added that plenty of work went into the former home in order to make it restaurant-ready.

 

Before it became Loza Wine & Crepes, the building was first a home, then used as a thrift shop by Emanuel Medical Center before becoming a real estate office, said Tsymbal.

 

One architectural facelift later – which included installing a full commercial kitchen – and the location now serves a menu of delectable crepes, like the sweet Smothered Nutella or savory Sautéed Spinach Pesto, panini sandwiches, salads and Ukrainian items such as Chicken Pelmeni and Golubsti.

 

All of these menu items are made fresh, added Tsymbal, courtesy of hand-picked farmers market produce which she selects weekly. The inspiration to run a restaurant fueled entirely from farmers market products and scratch-made recipes came from Tsymbal’s background working at farmers markets for her family, who produce honey and wine here in town.

 

In fact, the restaurant’s entirety has been a labor of love between the whole family, she said.

 

“The family has been the only ones who have done any construction on the restaurant, and we’ve hand-crafted everything here, from our tables, to the sign, to the food and to the wine,” said Tsymbal. “We pride ourselves on all of the projects we’ve done here by hand.”

 

The courtyard setting at Loza Wine & Crepes provides a quiet setting for patrons to enjoy their honey wine – a Tsymbal specialty described as similar to Port wine, but with a fruity hint. Other favorite white and red wines can be found at Loza as well, and can be enjoyed with one of the restaurant’s cheese plates.

 

In addition to food from the farmers market, Tsymbal also sells artisan goods from the market at Loza, and is always looking for vendors to sell their products in the restaurant.

 

“We just thought this would be something different for Turlock, and wanted to give the community something out of the ordinary,” said Tsymbal.